IPAC Global
IPAC co-chairs issued a statement in response to BBC reports revealing systemic torture and rape in Xinjiang prison camps. IPAC’s call for states to initiate investigations into alleged genocide and crimes against humanity was covered in the Sydney Morning Herald and ABC news.
Australia
Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne echoed IPAC calls for UN investigations into the systematic torture and abuse of women detained in Xinjiang’s prison camps.
IPAC member Tim Wilson MP raised the case of an alleged bribery scandal involving Chinese Communist Party’s overseas influence activities in the UN and the Australian parliament.
IPAC co-chair Senator James Paterson has been elected to the Chair of Australia’s Parliamentary Joint Committee for Intelligence and Security, while fellow IPAC co-chair Sen. Kimberley Kitching highlighted the threats and intimidation faced by Chinese diasporic communities in Australia from the Chinese government.
Japan
Members of the Japan Parliamentary Alliance on China joined with IPAC in issuing a joint statement in response to reports of torture and abuse in Xinjiang’s prison camps, signed by 15 members of the Japanese Diet.
Lithuania
The Lithuanian Parliamentary committees on National Security and Defence and on Foreign Affairs passed a resolution calling for international legal investigations into China’s crimes against humanity and genocide, proposed by IPAC co-chair Dovilė Šakalienė.
United Kingdom
The House of Lords voted in favour of IPAC member Lord Alton’s revised ‘genocide amendment’ to the UK Trade Bill, defeating the government by 171 votes with cross-party support. If passed in the House of Commons next week, the amendment would give powers to UK High Courts to judge genocide cases.
IPAC member Nus Ghani MP secured an Urgent Question on the UK’s response to reports of torture and rape in Xinjiang prison camps. Nine IPAC MPs spoke in the debate, calling for human rights sanctions on the Chinese officials responsible for the abuses and import bans on goods produced by forced labour in Xinjiang. Watch the highlights here.
